I may be 26 years old and have delusions of adulthood, but darn it – I love getting little holiday gifts from my parents! Case in point: my Easter “basket,” which arrived the Saturday before Easter. We got a package slip saying it was at the office, and I was so excited to go retrieve it that I went out in public in – gasp – sweatpants. Which I never ever do, because I think it looks slovenly and sloppy. But I figured I’d slip into the office, grab my package from the floor, and slip out without being seen. When I reached the office around 3:30, I was dismayed to see a sign saying it closed at 3:00 and wasn’t open on Easter Sunday. I peered in the windows to see if any of the staff were around but saw no one. Crushed, I turned towards home.
Suddenly I heard someone call my name. “Kelly?” I turned around. It was Nick, a friendly member of the staff, and he was holding a box. “I thought that was you,” he said as I walked eagerly towards him to grab my package. “But you were wearing sweats, and I’ve never seen you in sweats!”
So much for slipping out unseen.
Anyway, I got my package, opened it, and discovered lots of tasty treats.
Mama included a couple of protein bars, snack bars, a cute dish towel, dark chocolate bunnies, and jelly beans. I was very pleasantly surprised by those NuGo protein bars – instead of being gritty, like many protein bars, they’ve got a fun crunchy texture thanks to some puffed rice. They also taste more like candy bars than protein bars because of their high-quality dark chocolate. The mocha one you see up front was my favorite. I knew it contained a decent amount of bona-fide coffee because my pee smelled all coffee-like after I ate it. TMI? Oops.
I also really liked the Rise energy bar (I haven’t eaten the breakfast one yet*). It’s like a Larabar with a few more ingredients, giving it a more diverse texture than that of a Larabar.
The Surf Sweets jelly beans were fruity and sweet without being too sugary, although I discovered that they’re not actually vegan (darn confectioner’s glaze – leave the bugs alone!). And, of course, the dark chocolate bunnies are delicious because, um, they’re dark chocolate.
Yay for Easter baskets! And yay for Easter celebrations in general. That Easter brunch I attended was full of even more delicious treats, including some amazing tofu mini-quiches and muffins bursting with dried fruit. I brought along a batch of macaroons, which I stupidly forgot to photograph when they were all plated up. Instead, you get this crappily lit photo of them just after baking.
I used this recipe for my first-ever macaroon-making endeavor, and it was quite successful. I’ll definitely make these again!
* Upon a closer look at the ingredient list, I discovered that the breakfast bar contains honey. :( I gave it away.
vegga 